


A happy (if uneventful) day

by LillithMiles



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Domestic Fluff, Family Feels, M/M, Sammi doesn't exist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-10-08 20:08:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17392892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LillithMiles/pseuds/LillithMiles
Summary: After their first date, it's time to go back to day-to-day life. But day-to-day life can also be amazing in its simplicity.





	A happy (if uneventful) day

**Author's Note:**

> I understand this is unrealistic because Ian was back on meds for a few days only before 5x10, but this fic is basically wish fulfillment, so don't judge me too hard, please?
> 
> Rated M because of a short scene at the beginning, only. Sorry. 
> 
> I kinda of stopped watching in season 4 so I totally forgot that Carl would be in juvie and Debbie would be at odds with Fiona. So, let's all pretend these things didn't happen, okay? 
> 
> English isn't my first language and it's the first time I write in present tense. I kept mixing with past tense and I tried to correct all the mistakes before posting but this is unbetaed, so something probably slipped through.

Mickey wakes up to the warmth of Ian’s mouth around his cock. For a second, he forgets they're in the Gallagher’s house and almost lets out a moan, but the sounds of Liam mumbling baby talk in the crib right next to them in the overcrowded room has him biting his hand to muffle any sound.

 

His other hand goes down under the sheets and tangle in Ian’s hair and he can feel the humming of satisfaction that the redhead makes in his throat all the way to the base of his cock. He moves his hips, not really humping into Ian’s mouth but enough to make the other understand that he's close. They don't have much time in the mornings, not with everyone in the house. Soon enough, Fiona would be yelling at them all to get up and go to school or to work. Well, not him, but the Gallaghers.

 

Ian doesn't need to be told twice and doubles his efforts, taking Mickey all the way, nose brushing at his pubic hair and a finger teasing his entrance. Mickey bites hard at his hand, coming quickly  but intensely in his boyfriend's mouth. He relaxes a bit against the pillow, catching his breath before pulling Ian up by his hair (using just the right amount of strength that he knows Ian likes; being manhandled in bed sets the redhead off like a firework) and kissing him hard, his hand diving inside Ian’s boxer briefs and jacking him. Ian pants against his mouth, tries to kiss him back but he's too busy coming to coordinate everything. Mickey smiles as he cleans his hand on Ian’s underwear and chuckles when the redhead makes a noise of disapproval.

 

“It's your own fault for not waiting until we're alone so we can actually get off of our clothes, Firecrotch.”, he whispers and Ian just chuckles, nosing his neck. It's something he always liked doing, Mickey never really understood, but he's not going to complain either.

 

“I didn't want to wait.”

 

He worries for a second that Ian, even back on medication, could be showing signs of hypersexuality again. He knows now that it's not just him being horny, it's a compulsion that Ian couldn't fight at the time. He pushes his hand into Ian’s groin and the redhead throws him a curious look.

 

“Uh, sorry? Whatever miracle happened yesterday and this morning seems to have worn off.”, he shrugs and sits on the bed, feet on the floor, back turned to Mickey, avoiding his eyes. It takes a minute for the older boy to notice that Ian is embarrassed. He smiles, relief taking over. In hypersexual state, Ian’s dick wouldn't quit. He could beat one off in the shower but would come hard to their bed anyway. He'd literally tired Mickey out more than enough times. Mickey drops a kiss on Ian’s back and  runs his other hand through his boyfriend's red hair.

 

“I was just finishing cleaning my hand, man. You should go change out of those before anyone sees it.” He's relieved again when his answer seem to take Ian off his embarrassment. The other boy chuckles and turns to kiss him, slowly and with a lot of tongue, the way he knows will drive Mickey crazy. He thinks that maybe Ian saw immediately through his lie but he doesn't want to ask right now. They had their first date the night before and it kind of started some new phase in their relationship. They were still balancing things out, figuring out boundaries, finding their own places in each other's lives.

 

He chases after Ian when the redhead pulls back from the kiss. He hears a soft “I love you” whispered against his cheek and another against his ear, his forehead and the tip of his nose. Ian kisses him on the lips one more time, but it's almost chaste. A sweet kiss to bring Mickey down from his aroused estate. Then he leans back and fucking winks because Ian is a little shit and Mickey laughs because this is familiar. This is Ian coming back to himself.

 

He watches Ian getting up the bed, taking his meds without being prompted and grabbing some clothes to change. He smiles and feels tempted to lay back down but Liam is standing up on his crib, watching his older brother and saying his name over and over again until Ian picks him up and places him on Mickey’s arms.

 

“Can you hold him while I change? Thanks.” He disappears inside the bathroom without giving him time to reply, a cheeky grin on his face, but Mickey doesn't feel annoyed in the slightest. He's too fucking happy to care.

 

He looks at the little boy in his lap and sees he’s smiling at him. Liam is a sweet child, doesn't cry much and seems to always be happy. He smiles back (and drops a kiss on the baby’s head because he can't resist) and that's how Ian finds him. He doesn't say anything, just watches them with an impossible amount of fondness in his expression and Mickey rolls his eyes.

 

The rest of the house is awakening as well. They can hear movement further down the corridor, in Fiona’s room. Ian wakes Carl gently shaking his shoulder, but the boy mumbles that it's still early because Fiona hasn't call yet. Ian chuckles and kisses his brother’s head, leaving him to enjoy a few more minutes in bed.

 

Mickey’s gives Liam back to Ian and they walk down the stairs together. Ian puts Liam in his highchair and Mickey starts the coffeemaker. They start assembling breakfast when Fiona joins them, her presence like a hurricane, disrupting the softness of Mickey’s lazy morning. Ian notices his disgruntled expression but only gives him a small, sympathetic smile. He knows his sister is too much sometimes.

 

Soon enough, everyone seems to be around in the kitchen and Fiona’s asking about homework and complaining about the dishes in the sink and how she forgot to do grocery shopping that week and pay the water bill. She never seems to stop moving, Mickey thinks, and he gets tired just watching her. But he can see that she cares a lot about her family in the way she smiles at them, drops kisses or hugs and prepares lunches. In his house, no one gave them lunches to take to school, he got used to bully other students into giving him their money or food.

 

“I can buy groceries today, if you want. Only have a late shift at Patsy’s.”, says Ian, hesitant. Mickey glances at him and can see he's nervous. He looks at Fiona and sees she is too. He watches them have a short, silent conversation just looking at each other and in the end, Fiona nods. She grabs her wallet and gives Ian a few bills.

 

“I'll text you what we need the most, okay? Haven't had time to see what else is missing, but at least laundry detergent, something to put on sandwiches…” She goes to check the fridge and start talking to herself, mentally making the list. Debbie adds that she needs pads and that she used the rest of her favorite shampoo two days ago and Mickey rolls his eyes. Mandy would never ask him to buy her anything that wasn't beer or cigarettes. Hell, she probably takes money from their wallets to buy her things when she needs. Or asks whoever she's dating at the moment. Things are probably very hard for her, being the only girl in the house. Mandy never had a Fiona. None of them had, actually. He wonders about how different his life would be if they had someone who cared so much.

 

He sees Carl and Debbie grabbing their coats and backpacks. Ian kisses his sister's cheek and she hugs him tightly, but lets go quickly. He tries to kiss Carl’s forehead, but the boy pushes him away, complaining. Ian ruffles his hair, but he's smiling. He's happy. They all seem to be. It's a good feeling.

 

Before leaving though, Fiona walks back to the dining table and looks at their faces. Mickey knows that she's seeing the bruises and cuts from the day before. She also looks at Ian’s hand, still wrapped with the makeshift bandage the redhead had made the day before. That's where she decides to begin.

 

“What happened to your hand?”

 

Ian takes a sip from his orange juice  (Mickey didn't even say anything that morning; Ian had spontaneously grabbed the jug and served himself, avoiding the coffee completely) before answering.

 

“I burned myself yesterday at work. It looks worse than it is-”, but she's already unwrapping the bandages to see for herself. That's the main difference between Fiona and Lip, Mickey thinks. Lip would ask what happened, ask if Ian needed to go see a doctor or if he wanted some antibiotics or new bandages. Lip would let Ian decide if he wanted to show his wound and would offer help. And he'd respect Ian’s decision, whatever it was. Fiona didn't have that in her. Maybe because she was always making decisions concerning her family, maybe because for a very long time, she was the only one that was old enough and stable enough to do it, but she couldn't just wait. She needed to see, to know, to fix, to clean, to make things work. And she usually steamrolled her siblings in the process, in Mickey’s opinion.

 

“Jesus, Ian! Want me to take you to the ER? God, you're probably going to need-.”

 

“Fiona, stop! It's okay. Like I said, it looks worse than it is. I’ve burned myself before, in ROTC training. I know how to take care of it. All right?” He held that hand that was still holding the bandages and squeezed a little. They were having another silent conversation. Mickey could probably guess what they were not saying out loud: ‘did you hurt yourself on purpose?’, ‘are you going to try again?’ and ‘yes’ and ‘no, I promise’ and ‘please, trust me!’.

 

At last, she nodded at Ian, but had tears in her eyes. Mickey, despite wanting to disappear to not watch more family moments that he couldn't really comprehend, or better yet, relate to, passes Fiona a napkin, so she can dry her tears. She snorts as she accepts, cleans her face and shakes her head, letting go of the heavy mood. She nods again, and looks at Mickey’s face and then, back at Ian’s.

 

“What about those?” She asks, gesturing at the cuts and bruises. “Did you get into a bar fight last night?”

 

Ian snorts and Mickey averts his eyes again. It's visible in her face that the cogs are spinning in her head and she raises her eyebrows when she comes to the right conclusion.

 

“Did you do this to each other?”

 

Mickey looks at Ian and raises his eyebrows, willing to follows his lead. The redhead smiles and looks back at his sister.

 

“Yeah.”

 

Mickey sees a million things go through Fiona’s face as she processes the information. She opens her mouth to say or ask something else, but seems to think it's better not. Instead, she gives Ian a pointed look.

 

“Should I be worried?”

 

Ian exchanges a glance with him before answering. “No. We needed to set some differences, let out some frustration.” He says, still smiling a little.

 

“So, you’re good now?” She's looking at Ian, but when  he nods, she turns to Mickey. It takes a few seconds and a raised eyebrow from her for him to understand that she's asking if _he's_ good. He could play dumb and joke that he has no immediate plans to kick Ian’s ass again, but he knows that's not what she's asking. She looks worried. It's the same look that was directed at Ian seconds ago. He nods at her, a little shaken at the realization, and she smiles. “Good. Okay.” She exhales like this is confusing to her as well (Mickey sympathizes) and goes into ‘Hurricane Fiona’ mode again, grabbing a scarf and her coat and her purse and putting them all on. She bends and kisses Ian’s head, saying her goodbyes, but hesitates besides Mickey. Before he can ask what the fuck she wants now, she shrugs and ruffles his hair, smiling at his brother’s boyfriend  perplexed face before reassuring Ian that she'll text him the list of groceries. They listen to the front door slamming shut and Mickey takes a second to understand what the fuck just happened. He can't so he looks at Ian for an explanation. The motherfucker just shrugs, smiling.

 

“I don't know. You're growing on her, I guess. You better watch out though, next thing you know, she'll be assigning you chores and pestering you about finishing school or getting a job.”, he says as he lifts Liam from the highchair and takes him upstairs to dress him for the day. He asks Mickey to come buy groceries with him, joking that if the meds make him drowsy, he needs Mickey to haul him into a shopping cart and bring Liam and him back home.

 

It's a silly joke, made in passing, but hearing Ian saying he needs him fills him with such contentment, such joy that he can't stop himself from smiling. Ian seems to be thinking about something and adds that it's okay if Mickey doesn't want to come, that he's feeling okay and can handle.

 

Mickey asks Ian if he wants him to come to the damn grocery store and he's a little surprised to see that Ian is reluctant to say yes. He was never one to shy away from voicing what he wanted, that is usually Mickey’s role. But they are in a new territory now. It's going to take a while before they learn to navigate around each other again.

 

In the store, Ian asks if Mickey prefers to push the cart or Liam’s stroller and Mickey takes the cart. He wonders how this is his life now, grocery shopping with his boyfriend, his boyfriend's baby brother in tow. He wonders if it's normal that he doesn't feel more scared.

 

Ian is saying something about school (he’s thinking about finishing and getting his diploma) while adding items to the cart and Mickey can't help but smile. He looks good. Beaten up, bruised face and all, he looks like the Ian from before his first episode. Mickey knows Ian still can come crashing down, that his meds eventually will need an adjustment, that they still need to be alert to warning signs, but now he's just your average seventeen-year-old kid from the south side. Mickey  laughs when Ian catches him staring and asks “‘The fuck you lookin’ at?”.

  


They're in line to pay when Ian gets a call from Sean, asking him if he can come at 1pm instead of 3pm. He answers that he doesn't have anyone to watch Liam before Debbie and Carl get home from school, so it's a no go. But Mickey makes a ‘tsk’ sound and tells him he can babysit for two hours, it's not a big deal (it is. It's huge and he knows and Ian knows but fuck him if he's going back now). Ian looks at him like he wants to grab his face and kiss him hard, right there, in the cashier line, in front of everyone. Mickey’s surprised to feel like he wouldn't mind much if he did. They don't kiss, but the smile Ian throws at him when he confirms to Sean that he'll be at Patsy’s at 1pm warms him in a different, but not less pleasant way.

 

It's a little before noon when they get home, enough time to put away the groceries before showering and getting ready for work, but Ian scrambles upstairs as soon as they finish and he's sure Liam is distracted by the TV. Mickey knows Ian doesn't like his job. Honestly, no one would like to wash dishes for a living, it's the kind of work people do because they need the paycheck, not because they love to clean food scraps from dishes and to have their hands in dirty water all day. But it was a job. And Ian didn't fuck with that. He'd go and wash plates all the fucking afternoon, because Ian was good at working. He'd get on Mickey’s nerves back on the Kash-and-Grab days when he would roll in late or if he left early. Mickey even tried to get there before the opening hours one Saturday  (and fuck if it wasn't one of the hardest shits ever to get up early on a fucking Saturday) just to try to get back at Ian but he found the boy opening the fucking store. He doubted he'd ever forget the shit eating grin on his face when the fucker told him he actually opened the store on weekends, Linda paid him extra for it. When they fucked, later that day, Mickey rode him slowly, a form of vengeance that didn't teach Ian any lesson but how good slow sex could be.

 

Ian showers and gets ready quickly before preparing Liam’s lunch and placing the plastic plate in the boy’s lap along with a sippy cup. It's still a little early, he doesn't really have to leave right now because it takes around twenty minutes to reach Patsy’s. Mickey takes advantage and pulls him to the kitchen to make out for a while. Ian goes willingly but he's careful not to let the kisses get too far.

 

“Got kinda hard in the shower thinking about you. Not all the way, but I don't wanna risk getting a wood again before work, anyway. I can't believe I got two and half erections already since I restarted the meds.” He chuckles against Mickey’s lips, like that is the most normal thing in the world to be talking about while they make out. But Mickey realizes that, for them, it is. It's their sex life, so they have to talk about how Ian wouldn't be able to get hard as constantly as before until his body was completely adapted to the medication  (their fucks the day before and this morning were indeed miracles, like Ian had said), and they have to find a way to work around this. But for now, making out is good enough.

 

Every time they kiss, Mickey feels a twinge of regret for taking so long to start kissing Ian. He feels lightheaded when they kiss, the way Ian moves his tongue inside his mouth, the way he bites Mickey’s lower lip sometimes, how he teases and soothes, alternating hard and fast with slow and gentle until Mickey’s head starts to spin. Ian is a great kisser.

 

But soon he was pulling away and placing soft little pecks on Mickey’s face before grabbing his backpack to leave. Ian gives Mickey a few more recommendations about Liam before kissing him one more time and disappearing out the door.

 

Mickey laughs, feeling at little breathless. He wonders again how this is his life, in this house that seems to be always overflowing with people, the crumpled kitchen, the sink filled with dirty dishes because there was no water yet, a pile of dirty clothes kicked to the side, next to the washing machine. It's not his house, but he's getting used to it. And he kinda likes it. The Milkovich house was also full of people coming and going at all times of the day, doors slamming and people shouting, but the Gallaghers had a home, not just a house. Mickey shakes his head as he takes Liam’s now empty plate and cup to the sink. As he sits besides Liam to watch fucking cartoons with him, the little boy smiling up at him and climbing into his lap, he thinks that he should be scared of how fast things seem to be changing in his life. But he's not.

  


He's napping on the couch with Liam lying on top of him when Debbie and Carl come back from school. It's the sound of a camera that wakes him and when he opens his eyes, he sees Carl's cellphone first and then the boy's smug face.

 

“Blackmail material.”, he says smiling and takes another picture of Mickey’s annoyed face.

 

“Leave him alone, Carl. Do you wanna get hurt?”, Debbie asks from the kitchen.

 

Mickey sees Carl shrug as he helps Liam down the couch. “If he does anything, Ian will kick his ass. And then dump his ass!”, he says, throwing at pointed look at Mickey. At the dinner table, Debbie shrugs and nods, agreeing.

 

Mickey sits on the couch and runs a hand over his face. Carl is not really wrong, so he lets it slide for now. He can always lift the boy's phone and delete the pictures later. He walks into the kitchen and grabs a beer from the fridge. The Gallaghers seem to be discussing something important between themselves, heads close and voices rushed. Mickey just hopes they're not conspiring to murder someone.

 

He's about to go back to the living room with his beer when Debbie's voice interrupts him.

 

“You should help us with the chores.”

 

Mickey makes a face, flips them off and mumbles a “Fuck off”, but Debbie only raises an eyebrow and Carl looks almost bored. Liam is too busy eating crackers, but he's not part of this anyway.

 

“Listen to me-”, he starts, voice threatening, but Debbie cuts him off.

 

“No, you listen. You sleep here, you eat here, you leave here. It's only natural that you start helping.”, she says, and the way she puffs her chest kind of reminds him of Fiona. Debbie isn't one to be played with. He's realizing that no Gallagher is. But before he can threaten them, Carl gets up and starts picking the dirty laundry from the floor and piling them on a already filled basket.

 

“We already have a freeloader and it's Frank. We don't need another one. So you better start helping around here. Pull your weight, you know?”, and the he drops the laundry basket at Mickey’s feet. He's radiating defiance, chin raised and strong posture and Mickey is two seconds from breaking his neck when Debbie speaks again.

 

“Besides, it would be good for Ian to see you helping. I see the way he looks at you when you're with Liam or when you start the coffeemaker first thing in the morning. It's cute.”, she says, with a smile. “He likes that, having you doing these things. Like _his_ own little family.” She looks away and the emphasis she puts on the ‘his’ gives Mickey the impression that she wants that too, her own family. He kinda hopes she's not in too much of a hurry to start.  

 

But he stops for a second to consider. Back when they were living in the Milkovich house, Ian took care of Yevgeny, did grocery shopping, cleaned around. He knows now that Ian was manic but he looked so satisfied with that stupid shit that Mickey never had the heart to make him stop. He looked happy playing that weird version of house that he, Svetlana and Mickey  got themselves into.

 

So maybe Debbie had a point. And, okay, he's living with the Gallaghers, so it's really only fair to ‘pull his weight’. And Mickey knows Fiona doesn't like his criminal activities. Money doesn't seem to be so tight now that she's working regularly at Patsy’s, but Mickey knows that the kids always get summer jobs to help with their ‘squirrel fund’. He remembers Ian telling him about his family hardships and the creative ways they'd come up with to overcome the constant lack of money: the ice cream truck Lip would drive with Kevin, Debbie managing a summer daycare since she was six, even himself working shifts at the Kash-and-Grab since he was barely fifteen (on top of school and ROTC training). Mickey would laugh and say Ian could make way more if he come in a drug run with him, but Ian always said no. Mickey would call him an idiot and tease the redhead into fucking him again but deep down, he admired Ian. Crime was kind of an easy choice in their neighborhood. Not that the Gallaghers never had done anything illegal, but they seem to draw the line somewhere before reaching the heavy drugs and guns territory. No, Ian would slave away at that shitty store all summer but he wouldn't accept Mickey’s offer to make real money fast. If he was being honest with himself, Mickey would admit he really admired that about Ian.

 

Coming back to the present, he faces the teenagers in front of him. They don't look much alike, but both are standing side by side, with crossed arms and determination in their faces. It's almost cute how they think they can intimidate Mickey. Debbie raises an eyebrow.

 

“If you don't know how to do laundry, I can teach you.”, she offers. Carl just roll his eyes and mumbles something along the lines of ‘what idiot doesn't know how to start a washing machine?’ and starts to collect the plates and cups they used to serve their snacks.

 

Mickey should say no. In any other day,  he would, if only because the nerve of these two. He's no housewife to be running around grabbing dirty clothes from the floors, folding laundry and whatnot. But he's not fucking Frank to take advantage and just eat and live there for free. He considers paying them off his back, but he's low on cash right now. He's been practically glued to Ian after he was released so his brothers are pretty much managing the businesses without him. And to be honest, he didn't feel like disturbing the truce he reached with the Gallaghers. He was confident that none of them really think he was Ian’s best choice, but they all kept that to themselves and accepted him in the house. It was only fair.

 

Finally, he nods. Grabs the basket, carries to the washing machine and start loading it. He hears Debbie gasping softly and turns to face them. They look dumbstruck.

 

“Fine. Until I start bringing in money, I'll help in other ways. Now, talk to me like that again and you'll be in serious shit!”, he sais, getting on their faces. “And Ian won't stop me from beating the shit out of you.”

 

Debbie is the first to recover from the surprise. “Would you hit a woman?”

 

Mickey blinks and hesitates. She seizes the opportunity immediately. “See, Carl? Next time we call Mickey on his shit, he'll beat the shit out of you.” Her tone is dismissive, she's clearly not buying his threats. She throws her hair back and turns to face the sink. “Come on, I wash and you dry.”, she says to her brother.

 

Carl smirks at Mickey again and stands besides his sister, helping her. Mickey is back in front of the dryer taking out a load someone probably forgot there when he hears the boy’s reply.

 

“Well,  then we ask Ian to do it…”

 

“What, you think I can't kick your brother's ass?”

 

“Not without having your own kicked.”, the boy gave back.

 

Mickey laughs because, yes, it's kinda true. He’s good in a fight, but so is Ian. It’s a turn on for him, actually. He throws back a look at the two teenagers and smiles when he sees them playfully splashing each other. They're laughing and talking about whatever school drama is happening and the mood in the kitchen is light, despite their earlier tense talk. Mickey tries to remember the last time he played like that with his brothers or sister and can't. He wonders if they ever did that at all.

  


Around 6pm, Fiona and Ian roll in, talking animatedly about something that happened in the restaurant and Debbie and Carl, sitting at the dining table, doing homework, wave at them. Mickey just grumbles something under his breath. He's sitting on the couch, watching an old Steven Seagal action movie, Liam again in his lap.

 

Fiona ruffles his hair again in her way to the kitchen and Ian bends down to kiss his head. He turns and the kiss lands on his lips instead. Ian blinks at him because they might be out now, but Mickey was never too comfortable with PDA.

 

“What?”, he asks with a smile. Ian smiles and kisses him again, before picking up Liam, who's reaching for him and walking into the kitchen. His gaze follows Ian until it passes Debbie and he sees a knowing, smug smile on her face, directed at him.

 

A little later, he hears the call for dinner and walks to the kitchen. Ian is taking burgers from paper bags while Carl places the soda bottle on the table before reaching for glasses. Fiona is serving something more suitable than burgers to Liam and Debbie is talking her ear off about something or someone from her school. It should annoy him more than it does right now, he thinks. In his house, the meals aren't really a family thing. Even when they sit together, they keep to themselves or just talk about the next job or whatever non-personal subject they can think of. Gallaghers seem to be all up each other's business. Mickey doesn't really like this, but he dislikes less now than he used to, he thinks.

 

They sit and start eating. Fiona asks about homework and Carl asks Ian to help him with a History paper.

 

“I'd have finished earlier but there was so many dishes in the sink...”, he complains, rolling his eyes.

 

“You were just drying them! I should be complaining!”, says Debbie, showing her nails. Fiona gives her a sympathetic smile.

 

“Hey, how about we do each other's nails tomorrow? It's been a while since we did that.”, she offers and Debbie perks up a little.

 

“Seriously?”

 

“Yeah, it's gonna be fun! Just us girls!”

 

“Okay. Think we can do our hair too?”, the girl asks.

 

“Sure! I'll borrow V’s curling iron, we can try new hairstyles.”

 

“Cool!”

 

Mickey watches the whole exchange with a strange feeling in his chest. He glances at Ian and Carl, but they are just eating their dinners, occasionally talking about the History paper (well, Ian is asking what it is about and Carl just says it's something about some dead president). This is not strange for them. It is to him, however. Girls talking about doing girl shit. It shouldn't bother him, but it does, a little. It makes him think of Mandy. She never had anyone to do girly shit with her like that. He wonders if Debbie would invite his sister, but dismisses the thought quickly. Mandy would probably say no anyway.

 

They're almost finishing eating when Fiona speaks again, looking at the teenagers with a grateful expression.

 

“Thanks Debbie and Carl for not only doing the dishes, but also for doing the laundry!”, she says, smiling.

 

“You're welcome, but we only did the dishes.”, says Debbie. “Mickey did the laundry.”

 

Everyone looks at him and Mickey feels like strangling Debbie. Just a little. He focus on his food, embarrassed. Ian leans close to him.

 

“You did?”, the redhead asks, a note of disbelief in his voice.

 

“Well, don't sound so surprised.”, he replies, but doesn't meet anyone's eyes.

 

“When we got home from school, he was napping on the couch with Liam.”, starts Carl, laughter in his voice and Mickey’s anxiety skyrockets. “Here, I had to take a picture to show you.” and he turns his phone to Ian, showing the picture to him. Ian looks at the picture and then at Mickey, who's still looking at his almost finished fries like they hold the secret of the universe. He kisses the side of his boyfriend's face and it takes everything in Mickey to not push him away and stalk out of the house angrily.

 

Ian probably notices how nervous he is because he backs away and, after texting himself the pictures, he deletes them from his brother’s phone (Mickey doesn't miss Carl’s indignant ‘Hey!’ when he gets his phone back). He starts talking about other things, trying to take his family attention from Mickey and it works. Soon, Fiona is telling Carl to finish his homework while biting the last of her fries and the kid rolls his eyes. Ian assures him that he'll help and they all start to get up and throw napkins and paper bags in the trash can.

 

In the middle of it all, he catches Debbie looking at him. She has an apologetic look on her face and he can't deal anymore. He pushes away from the table and grumbles something under his breath that he hopes they understand as a ‘goodnight’. He goes upstairs without looking back and sits on Ian’s bed. Running a hand over his face, he contemplates going to his own house, if only for one night. Have quite moments to himself, away from the noise of the Gallaghers and their easy, visible affection for each other. It all comes down to it, he thinks. He's used to Ian, he knows how clingy he can get, remembers his complains when Mickey wouldn't allow them to kiss, his jealous looks when Mickey would fuck Angie or another girl to keep up appearances. Ian always felt too much. And Mickey hardly allowed himself to feel anything that wasn't anger. It was one of the reasons why he got hooked on Ian so fast.

 

But the other Gallaghers… It’s too much. The chores, the banter, the hair ruffling, the implicit trust of someone sleeping on you… He's overwhelmed.

 

He hears a soft knock on the door frame and looks up to see Fiona. She's holding some sheets, all bundled together, by the look of it. He thinks for a fraction of a second that's it's more fucking laundry to deal with before he mentally shakes himself. He stares at Fiona and whatever she sees on his eyes makes her cautious, but not like she's scared of him hurting her. It's more like she's not trying to upset him more, like he's some cornered hurt animal she's trying to help. It makes his mouth twitch.

 

“I just put fresh sheets on Lip’s bed. Carl suggested you and Ian could sleep in his room while Lip is in the dorm.” She looks back, checking if they're alone and then adds, in a lower voice, like she's sharing a secret. “I think he just doesn't wanna to risk seeing you two…” She does a gesture with her hand and Mickey snorts despite himself. “But gift horse, right?”, she shrugs with a smile and turns to leave. She looks back quickly and adds “Thanks for the laundry, by the way.” before leaving him alone. He can hear the other Gallaghers downstairs, their usual ruckus, laughter and the occasional yelling. He hears her voice when she joins them. He's alone upstairs now. It makes him breathe a little better. He gets some clothes from Ian’s dresser and vaguely wonders if they're his or even Ian's. Clothes seem to rotate between the Gallaghers. It's not a big deal to him, he's used to hand me downs, poverty does that to you.

 

He showers quickly and changes, but when he lies down, he misses Ian's scent and immediately calls himself a pussy for it. He's not sleepy in the slightest but the quiet of the room is an easier choice than the noise downstairs. He grabs his phone and checks in with his brothers, feeling like he's having a glimpse of real world again after a whole day in the Gallagher bubble. Iggy asks if he's okay and says he sounds weird. He says he's fine (and he is, he feels calmer now that he's not in the middle of the whirlwind of his boyfriend's family) and asks about Mandy. Iggy says she's the same way she has always been, but at least she's not sporting any new bruises anymore. Not since Joey and Colin took Kennyata for a ‘guys night out’ and came back without him. She's still working at the waffle house and going to school and she was singing to herself the other day, while making breakfast, says Iggy. Mickey thinks she sounds better than ‘the same way’, but keeps that to himself. Iggy asks him if he's coming back (not ‘when’, ‘if’) and says that their father left them with a huge pile of shit to deal and they could use his help. He takes a moment before answering. Mickey wants to help his brothers and he needs the cash anyway. “When?”, he asks, biting his bottom lip.

 

“Tomorrow morning. Hit as much places we can, collect cash, take some people off our backs…”

 

“Okay. I'll be at the house around eight.”

 

“Cool, man! Just like the old days, huh?”

 

He smiles at Iggy’s enthusiasm. The fucker acts like he's the youngest of the family sometimes. Iggy shares some details about their next day before they say their goodbyes. He puts the phone under his pillow and turns on his side, facing the door. He wonders if Ian will take long to come to bed and immediately calls himself a bitch for it.

 

But Ian comes not long after, sporting a small smile that makes Mickey think of the Ian of two or three years ago, before his father had caught them and everything came crashing down. He lies down practically on top of Mickey, wraps his arms around him and nuzzles his face. Mickey just decides to indulge.

 

“Thanks for helping Debbie and Carl with the chores.”

 

Mickey rolls his eyes and sighs heavily. Ian chuckles against his cheek and kisses it. “Whatever, man… It's not like I had anything more interesting to do anyway.”

 

Ian looks at him and runs a hand down his chest and stomach before settling on his hip, squeezing lightly. “I'm dying to know what kind of shit they pulled to convince you. Are you ever gonna tell me?” Mickey shakes his head, smiling at the huge mess of a man that is his boyfriend, all sprawled on top of him. He grabs Ian's hand and brings it to his lips. The redhead raises an eyebrow at casual display of affection, but Mickey just shrugs.

 

“Be that way, then. I'll bribe Carl and he'll tell me.” He snuggles against Mickey and drops more kisses on the side of his face. Then he pushes himself up, holding himself on his elbow and gives Mickey’s crotch a pointed look before returning to his face, wordlessly asking if he wants to get some. Just because he can't get it up doesn't mean he's not gonna make his boyfriend happy. But Mickey surprises him.

 

“Nah, man. I'm kinda beat.” He finds a better position in bed, less under Ian because, yeah, he likes the weight of the redhead above him, but not for long. Ian is a heavy motherfucker. And they'll end up spooning at some point anyway because his boyfriend is clingy like that and Mickey doesn't mind one bit having those arms around him.

 

“Right, because napping on the couch is such an strenuous activity…”

 

“I did more than that today. Grocery shopping, babysitting, laundry… I had a busy day.”

 

Ian smiles and kisses him deeply. He's seeing that Debbie was right, Ian seems very into this domestic shit.

 

They make out for a while, just enjoying each other. But soon Ian is yawning and snuggling and Mickey turns around, back to Ian's chest, and pulls an arm around himself. He feels the smile against his back.

 

He's almost asleep when he hears Ian’s sleepy voice asking if it wasn't a boring day. He shakes his head, slowly and smiles. ‘Nah, it was perfect’, he thinks, before falling asleep.


End file.
